JRC

With the great Neville Smith, proper working class Scouse writer and actor and a role model for the likes of Bleasdale. He also wrote the brilliant Gumshoe, featuring the legend that was Bill Dean/Harry Cross as the MC at the Norris Green social club. Well worth a watch, 6/10

Respect to Andy Robertson still. Cavilled a little at his 'biggest game of his career' comment, but it's understandable. But then he went on to list some career highlights which included 'played for the biggest club in the world...'.

Including GvB? They'll be dancing in the streets round Smithdown way tonight.

Genuinely trying to understand this point. Also trying to recall the 3 others. Atleti obviously one. Tend to let defeats fade from memory. Thanks Claude, Real twice, as well as the finals.

I'm always up for speculation, the idler the better. Or so I would suggest.

Yes there are. And plenty where he would - or should - have got sacked/been replaced sooner. And pretty well every one of them has surfaced on here in one form or other over the past 10 months. Only one of them actually happened, and he got sacked. Not convinced this forum is a place where speculation or hypotheticals are uncommon.

In this counterfactual world, how would things have panned out if we swapped our first five and last five games? He would almost certainly have got more leeway from a bad start after the summer, and a late surge for the last Champions League place would have felt quite transformational - most of us were thrilled with the last few weeks of 20-21. Still think it wouldn't have been enough to end the season with a different outcome or fan mindset, but it would have been a very different dynamic. Also not sure (CBA checking) how close we would have been to the relegation zone , which is what did for 2 of the previously sacked incumbent PL winning managers (Ranieri and Mourinho were sacked 1 point above the zone, apparently. Conte just set fire to the ground and wiped his a*** on a club flag, although Mourinho was kind of doing that as well, the multitasker)

There's an Eraserhead joke in there, but I'm not going for it

There's a player at Hamburg called Julius Freude and I was working on a post that Schade 'n' him would soon have us laughing at the downfall of all the other teams in the league, but it turns out he plays for some lower league team in Hamburg, not SV, so it kind of fell apart. Pity.

Unsurprisingly, and unrelated to the result or our performance, Pawson was terrible yesterday. No control or authority and terrible decision making. I suspect Palmer got more free kicks yesterday than Salah has had all season at Anfield, he just went to ground as soon as anyone got near him. The only one Pawson didn't give - and it was the most egregious - saw him almost bust a blood vessel with outrage at the injustice of it.

I understand how strong feelings have got on here about Slot, but that is a genuinely shameful s***house post.

Virtually everyone who saw the imperious and majestic Florian Albert at Goodison in the 66 World Cup will robustly tell you otherwise. And that was with Pele in the same group. KYHFS.

Isak nailed that last week.

Perhaps I'm being overly optimistic, but the rush to big up Utd, Carrick and Fernandes has all the hallmarks of previous false dawns. Brentford should have been over the horizon by half time yesterday. Carrick as the new Solskjaer is such an obvious comparison I'm surprised (not) that the Utd fanboys aren't more cautious about appointing him full time (tbf Scholes and some others have been a bit Emperors New Clothes about him recently). Final half-season fling from (an obviously class) Casemiro? Benefit of no mid-week games since forever? Record-busing stats from a notoriously hot and cold superstar now in his 30's and constantly linked with that last big-money contract? Fractious Board Room/DoF relations? Let's hope, and keep the long term view, even if they are promisingly good, if not trophy winners next year. They can still crasj and burn long term. Again.

And that. Shades of his predecessor Ivan Tony's prediliction in this showing. Could easily have had 4 himself by now.

Nsville says should be 2-2. Ive only watched the last 10 minutes, and Brentford should have had about 4 in that time alone and United havent been in their area.

Having served in the Boer War, I'm taking no lectures from anyone on here.

Others being, in the main, Palace fans and other opposition fans from what I've read. I think it's a bizarre take. He went to ground and put his hand up well before Munoz took aim. Not really sure he had the time - nor inclination - to rationalize a scenario where him pretending to be Injured was a good idea. He jarred or twisted his knee, it hurt and he got a good minute or two treatment. A 'proper' injury albeit not game-ending. Immaterial as to what transpired, I didn't see anything about his reaction to suggest anything less mundane than that.

May be true, and a ref-beating crypto-fascist is hardly the poster boy for moral righteousness, but he did what he did and it felt like an act of common decency.

I don't blame him, or think he was in the wrong, but he had the opportunity to be more sportsmanlike and chose not to. I rather admired what Di Canio did against Everton, as did 'Football', by awarding him some Fair Play thing, and wouldn't object to one of our players doing the same, nor berate them for taking advantage. But he was under no obligation not to try to score. The Ref failing to stop it when he had already stopped the game more than once for non-head injuries angered me more. Van Dijk gave him a shove and a bit of a kick as well, to the extent he was appealing to the ref that he was being bullied by the big boys. I'm all for petty squabbles and digs during a game, should do it more.

A huge chunk of the game was played in the limbo between the obvious offside and the raised flag.

Robertson's goal had Owen 2001 FA Cup winning vibes. I was right behind that one as well and knew they were in as soon as they were hit. More annoyed with the ref, much as I would have preferred Munoz doing a Di Canio (and feel the same if it were us). He stopped play for non-head injuries to their lads at least 3 times, once when we could have broken. Thought he was doing ok - booking Henderson was an unexpected plus - but lost it big style 2nd half. Overall though, we got the worst of the modern game. We must have seen 5 minutes of fake play following glaringly obvious off-sides the AR wouldn't flag for. And if the penalty was a clear and obvious mistake, why did it take so long and a monitor review to sort it? Apart from the post-concession crazy spell, thought we did ok, more front foot. Palace have not been easy for us to play on many an occasion, but I didn't get the impending doom and visceral fear implied on here. Felt we had 3 goals in us most of the afternoon, and they didn't. Rather enjoyed it tbh.

Chelsea v Leeds is proper old school. Unlikely to get close to the psychotic brutality of the 1970 final - and the replay especially - but we can dream.

Maybe, but on the assumption that if we win he is kept on - and I suspect that is the only circumstance whereby he isn't let go - do you want the CL win or not? However unlikely.

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